Peel the taters and slice them to a relatively uniform ⅛ inch. Spread them in a 9X13 pan. (Don't be picky!)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Saute the onions until they are translucent. Try not to eat too many just yet.

Add all the seasoning and your thickening agent of choice to the buttered onions. Whisk until smooth. (I usually get someone shorter than me to whisk. Pretend whisking is really fun and you'll have plenty of volunteers. Eventually, they'll wise up, though.)

Add the milk slowly to the saucepan, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. (Remember, milk can burn...and tends to do a volcanic eruption impression if overheated, so don't go anywhere.)

Pour the mixture over the potatoes. Pop them in the oven at 350 for an hour. Not being one who wants to wait an hour for my taters, I boiled them for ten minutes before putting them in the oven, so they were done in half the time.

Notes

For a little change in the ol' scalloped tater routine, toss in some cooked bacon (cook it in the saucepan and use the drippings to saute the onion), cheese, broccoli, or all of the above.

2.2.1

Want to know what a real family thought of this recipe? Because I’m off dairy to help our Little Miss Colic, I did not get to try this dish. (Yes, it broke my heart, thank you for asking.) So we polled the other taste testers.

Here’s what some members of the family thought…in their own occasionally incomprehensible words:

The cheese-obsessed Wisconsin-born teen: “I thought they were really good…but they needed cheese, sort of. I think it was good without cheese too, though.”

The food enthusiast: “Ooh, those were totally awesome!”

The contented, quiet child: Um, I loved the potatoes, um…and I don’t think they would have been better with cheese on them.

Gabbie Girl: I like them.

The boy who doesn’t eat potatoes: I only had one with salt on it and it was really good that way. I don’t know what it tasted like without salt.

The three-year-old who ate every bite: They taste like peppermint candy canes with pepper. (She’s three, people. Seriously.)

If you enjoyed this easy scalloped potatoes recipe, you’ll love the other recipes in Wholesome Comfort: Whole Foods to Warm & Nourish Your Family by Kate at Modern Alternative Mama.

14 Comments

I have been exploring your newly discovered site this morning and my eyes zeroed in on “colicky baby”. My first baby, now a 23 year old newly wed, was very colicky, so I can relate. But what I wanted you to know is something I just discovered! Colicky babies are usually colicky because of an allergy to something in their mother’s milk. It most often is a sensitivity to dairy products, so if your little one is still having difficulty with colic, you might try eliminating dairy from your diet for a while.

Thank you, Rhonda! I’ve been trying the no dairy approach, and it seems to help a bit. I’ll continue and see how it goes. I appreciate your telling me about this, because sometimes I think I’m just grasping at straws. It’s nice to have it verified. I’m also glad to know there is life after colic. 😉 Does your daughter have a dairy allergy still?

My daughter, Anna, does not appear to have any problem with dairy. She developed other allergies as a baby, which continue today — allergies to animals, specifically dogs, cats, and horses. And we don’t want to forget the hay! She was always miserable at the Christmas plays at church with a manger full of hay! I was fearful that she would develop asthma from this. Idk…. I’m just learning some of the relationships between food and health myself. Wish I had known then what little I know now. Anna became a joyful little soul definitely by 6 months old, maybe a little sooner. And she has remained one ever since!

Some other things that you may already know: with my subsequent 4 babies (none were as bad as the first, but definitely had their fussy time usually when it was time for supper prep!), I would either sit down and nurse them and let the older children finish up dinner or make salad. Or I would assign an older child to play or hold the baby or give the baby a bath. Or I would put the baby in its seat on the dryer and turn the dryer on. (I never told my husband this!) I was very thankful for the vibrating seats that finally came around in time for my last child. I put him on the kitchen counter and cooked and talked to him while he was comforted in his seat!

The dairy experiment over the past few weeks seems to be working. I had only limited it, then added it back, and it seemed to impact her. Now I’ve remove it entirely, and she has eased up quite a bit.

Mine have all gotten fussy at dinner time as well. One would sleep through the prep and wake up every evening when it was time to eat. Most of them fussed through the prep, though. My mother says we all did the same thing!

I love the drier idea. 🙂 I mostly “wear” my baby, but some things are hard to do with a baby on board.

Your response brought back memories of many dinners with a pillow propped in my lap and a baby latched on so I could eat at the table with the family! lol! I’m so glad your precious little one is improving!

As I sit here in my empty, quiet house, I’m reminded of the verse, “This too shall pass.” And very quickly! Sometimes I wish for those crazy hectic days with little ones all around! I saw a sign that stated, “The journey is the destination.” Wish I had truly understood that when the kids were younger. Enjoy!

I’m bringing these to Easter at Grandma’s on Sunday. Yummy. I’ve made them before, but never ahead of time. If I make them a day or so ahead and bake them, will they reheat alright? Maybe add a little milk to cream them up a bit before reheating?

We have never made them in advance, but we have reheated them in the oven, and they’ve been fine. Next-day food is usually not as pretty, but always tastes better. Since my taste buds speak louder than my eyes, I’m cool with that.

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